Counting Attempts With Ursula Papandrea

The CrossFit/USAW Open is one month away. The event will hold all athletes to the standards of an official USAW meet. If you are not clear on the rules it's not too late to educate yourself. We will continue provide information regarding the specifics of the competition here on the site.

To help get a grasp on the nuances of the sport of weightlifting, we have commissioned help from some of the best.

Ursula Papandrea is a USAW Senior International Coach and a Level 1 Certified CrossFit Coach. In 13 years as a competitive lifter Ursula stacked up the accolades including multiple national titles. She is also a former National Record holder in the clean and jerk. In coaching, she is one of only thirty Senior International Coaches, the highest level possible in United States Weightlifting; she is the only woman to ever achieve this level. Several of her lifters have qualified for USA national teams competing at Senior World, World University, Junior World, and Pan American Game levels.You can read more about Ursula's bio here.

Ursula is also one of the head coaches of newly formed OlyAthlete.com. The website project was spearheaded by Wes Kimball of CrossFit Austin in partnership with G7 CrossFit, Ursula and Chad Vaughn. The purpose is to, "provide an information resource for athletes and coaches to maximize their knowledge, expertise, and abilities in the art of Olympic-style Weightlifting."

"Hopefully we can continue to foster the strong relationship thats started between CrossFit and USAW, and continue to provide for the CrossFit community," says Kimball.

Ursula has recently published two extremely informative articles on the site. If you are attending the CrossFit/USAW Open in October, be advised that you should study up on this information.

In Counting Attempts, "Ursula dives into the science, skill, and art of counting attempts at an actual meet." Drawing on a career dedicated to the sport and her own success as an athlete, Ursula provides detailed tables and how to approach a number of scenarios you may encounter in competition.